Overview
On Sunday, 22 June 2003 at 12:00 local time, a Piper PA-25-235 agricultural aircraft, registration EC-BCG, sustained substantial damage after entering an aerodynamic stall and impacting a rice field near Villar de Rena, in the province of Badajoz, Spain. The pilot, the sole occupant, was seriously injured.
Sequence of Events
The aircraft had departed minutes earlier from a temporary dirt strip located within the municipality of Villar de Rena. It was the first flight over that particular rice field; earlier in the day, six other fertilizing flights had been conducted over different parcels. A half-hour gap occurred due to the change of field. The aircraft carried 350 kilograms of granular fertilizer and approximately 15 gallons of fuel. Upon reaching the vicinity of the target field, the aircraft experienced a sudden nose-down descent and crashed into an adjacent field.
Injuries
The pilot sustained serious injuries, including fractures of both legs and lung trauma, requiring about one month of hospitalization and several additional months of recovery.
Aircraft Damage
The aircraft suffered substantial damage. The product and fuel tanks were destroyed. Main landing gear elements were bent backward. Upper wing struts detached and, along with the wing assembly, rotated such that the wing upper surface moved toward the front of the cockpit. The engine detached and sustained major damage; one propeller blade was bent.
Other Damage
An area approximately 8 meters long by 4 meters wide in front of the aircraft was stripped of rice plants due to the fertilizer spill. Fuel and oil also spilled onto that patch.
Personnel Information
The pilot, aged 31, held a valid commercial pilot license with an agricultural endorsement valid until 8 April 2004, and had passed medical examinations. Total flight experience was about 700 hours, with approximately 500 hours on the accident aircraft type.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft held a valid airworthiness certificate (No. 682) last renewed on 12 March 2003, valid until 12 March 2004.
Meteorological Information
At 10:00 UTC, the Badajoz METAR reported a temperature of 28°C, wind from 330° at 4 knots, and clear skies. A weather station at Las Cumbres, about 15 km away, gave 28°C and wind from 320° at 3 knots at the same time. Maximum temperatures in the area reached 34–37°C. Analysis indicated that at the accident time, the most probable weather at the site was clear skies, light northwest winds, and a temperature of 28–29°C.
Wreckage and Impact
The impact marks showed an area of flattened rice plants matching the aircraft's dimensions. The longitudinal axis of the wreckage pointed west-northwest. The aircraft’s structural integrity was mostly preserved except for the engine, which lay one meter forward and slightly left of the main wreckage. The product hopper was separated but later moved by rescuers. The emergency discharge was actuated, but solid product does not exit quickly.
Survival
Rescue teams extracted the pilot from the cockpit without special difficulty. The pilot remained conscious throughout and disconnected the magnetos after impact. Seatbelts held and released normally; the inertia reel was locked.
Investigation
The elevator trim tab was found nearly at its full nose-up position. The elevator control functioned correctly; aileron and rudder controls could not be fully tested due to deformations but appeared continuous. The propeller condition was consistent with the engine delivering power at impact. Witnesses (flagmen working on the field) reported that the aircraft approached normally at 30–50 feet AGL, then made an unusual motion and nosedived; they heard engine noise throughout. The pilot did not recall the events.
Analysis
The aircraft was estimated to be at its maximum operating weight given the load and environmental conditions. The full nose-up trim setting supported this. The flight path and witness accounts suggest a stall occurred during the alignment maneuver, possibly because the pilot had to adjust for the flagmen on the first pass over that field. Given the low altitude (30–50 feet AGL), recovery was not possible.
Probable Cause
The most probable cause of the accident was an aerodynamic stall during the alignment maneuver with the field to be treated.